Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Trading horses
The politics of buying and selling political souls is in vogue mostly in rogue countries. Democratic norms in Pakistan are at the lowest ebb in its 75 years of existence. When combined opposition could not allure allies of the ruling party they started to allure their parliamentarians. The democratic history is chequered with wheeling and dealing by the same actors such as the infamous Change Manga.
The worst part is its done openly and shamelessly without any checks and balances under the garb of constitutional amendment regarding floor crossing. It’s incomprehensible if any constitution in world would allow horse trading. The sanctioning of floor crossing in Pakistan only comes into force when immoral act has taken place hence, having no impact on horrendous act of horse trading.
It’s so shameful to see parliamentarians “conscientiously” selling their souls to the devil. If these guys have serious problems with their parties they should resign and then contest independently or under the auspicious of any other party of their choice. It’s both principally and morally wrong to remain within the party, backstabbing it, making a fortune from the betrayal and then only be deseated after that. What an easy let off for such a treacherous act.
GHAZALA MALIK
US
Where will we draw the line in Ukraine
This refers to article ‘Where will we draw the line in Ukraine?’ by Sam Ben-Meir (March 24). The writer concludes his article saying: “If there is no red line for the West, no evil that we refuse to countenance, no amount of slaughter for which an economic response is inadequate, then indeed our most cherished ideals are simply hollow, our words empty of meaning and conviction – and worst of all, we are inviting a new age of barbarism the likes of which the world has truly never seen.”
Surprisingly, simple removal of the words ‘If’ and ‘then’ turns the bulk of the statement into a confession which reads as under:
“There is no red line for the West, no evil that we refuse to countenance, no amount of slaughter for which an economic response is inadequate, indeed our most cherished ideals are simply hollow, our words empty of meaning and conviction.”
As for the tail piece “And worst of all, we are inviting a new age of barbarism —,” suffice to say that throughout history, there have been worst cases of barbarism, with holocaust being just one example.
Moreover, the present supposed champions of human rights, namely the major Western countries led by the United States, have plenty of blood on their hands. The leader of this supposedly humanitarian group, the United States, was built on the graves of the natives who were hunted down like animals. And many of the former colonial powers now turned angels, have been guilty of worst forms of barbarism.
This should not be taken to mean that present and future atrocities are justifiable because this has been happening all the time. What I mean is that the level of outrage and condemnation of the perpetrator should be proportionate to the gravity of the crime, regardless of the religious or racial grouping of the victim or the attacker.
SRH HASHMI
Karachi
Action must be taken
I want to wake up the concerned authorities towards the detrimental hardships which have been fetching tremendous causalities in our lives as well as have been the main obstruction of not letting the country to move towards development. Unfortunately, our leaders have been sleeping to take constant steps regarding them along with are unwilling to take serious litigations on these life-destroying problems.
Such as child marriage, child labour, mega corruption, mass illiteracy, cheating, discrimination among genders, and many more which are very dilapidated to be highlighted in your esteemed newspaper because thousands of letters have been published on them on a daily basis.
We have gotten rid of them but no improvement has been brought in front of the public from the government that should motivate the masses that Parliament is working for them. I request the regime to do its best to get out of these issues because without taking action then the issues will increase as well as prevent the fundamental rights of the people
BAHADUR KHAN
Malir, Karachi
Modern technologies
Our country has always been slow to accept modern initiatives and technologies and such is a case for smoking-related innovations as well. Scientific advancement has produced many improved and reduced-risk products to curb cigarette harm but they generally remain unknown as there is little to no credible information we can find about them in our country, despite other countries, such as the UK, actively advocating for smokers to switch to better alternatives, based on science and research.
The lack of awareness locally about alternatives to smoking that reduce harm to the consumer as well as rampant misinformation and a penchant for banning without understanding is leading to the masses in our population who continue to choose to smoke to continue inflicting harm upon themselves, as opposed to providing them alternatives that would reduce risk to them.
Adults who are unwilling to or are unable to quit smoking should be provided with necessary information as well as better access to alternate avenues to reduce harm to their health caused by cigarettes.
The present policies and regulations in our country do not take into account the smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes that have proven to be successful in reducing risk for smokers. Our government should take a more science-based approach and devise guidelines and policies keeping in mind these innovative products and technologies to ensure an improved and smoke-free future for Pakistan.
RABIA IMRAN
Karachi
